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House of Chains/Chapter 3
Between Silver Lake and Culvern Three days later, Karsa is loaded onto a wagon by Malazan soldiers, which already contains Torvald. One Malazan, Shard, notices that the magic subduing Karsa is weakining. Ebron orders Karsa to be restrained with heavy chains. Once the enchanted net is removed, Karsa attempts to break free but is struck on the head with a shovel and knocked unconscious. Karsa awakens six day later, bound to the floor of the wagon in chains. He recounts how Delum lost his wits after a blow to the head and tells Torvald of his intention to pretend to have brain damage in order to deceive the Malazan guards. Torvald agrees to play along on the condition that Karsa will help him escape. . . and not kill him immediately after. The Malazans are talking about the Battle of Pale and how they wish they could have been present instead of being stationed in a remote outpost. They take a ferry to cross a river and load Karsa, still chained to the wagon. Weeks of traveling follow with Karsa beginning to lose his sanity from being chained and immobilized for so long. He is drifting in and out of consciousness. Malyn Sea Eventually, at Tanys, they are transferred to a large ocean-going vessel to cross the Malyn Sea. Despite the fact that he is still chained to a platform, the new crew is afraid of Karsa, which Torvald uses to intimidate them before he is struck down by the captain and threatened to be thrown overboard if he causes any more trouble. The captain orders Karsa to stop smiling, but Karsa does not comply, either because he's still pretending to be brain damaged or he really is losing his mind. The captain orders Karsa gagged. Karsa finds himself standing, in spirit only, before the Seven Gods, telling Urugal that he has failed them. Urugal agrees, saying, "You have abandoned us and so in turn we must abandon you." Then Karsa finds himself atop a hill of bones with hundreds of chains falling from his wrists, each connected to a corpse, all climbing toward him chanting, "Lead us, Warleader." He awakes back on the ship screaming, but hears a small voice saying, "Perhaps we will not abandon you yet." Torvald removes the gag from Karsa's mouth, allowing him to breath. Torvald tells Karsa that he had been lost for weeks, hardly holding down any food or drink. Karsa looks up to see the sky flashing colors and chains snapping down through the clouds. The ship had been becalmed for some time until Karsa started screaming and now the sailors believe that Karsa has called the storm upon them and try to throw him, still chained, overboard. Karsa then sees chains snapping down from the sky before he loses consciousness. Inside a Warren Karsa awakes to Torvald crawling on the platform as it floats in the water. The storm destroyed the ship, killing all of the sailors, and Torvald has been scavenging supplies that have floated up from the wreckage. Torvald believes Karsa was responsible for the storm, as not one chain of lightning missed its target. As they drift, Torvald works to free Karsa from his chains but lacks the tools to effectively do so. The ocean they are in does not seem to be familiar, as it is freshwater, albeit silty. Torvald talks of how Silgar said they had entered a warren before the ship was destroyed. Eventually they float toward a group of ships stranded on underwater sand bars. As Torvald walks in the waist-deep water he describes many corpses from a battle at his feet. In one of the ships, Torvald finds a chisel and frees Korsa from his chains. Despite being freed, Karsa is still too weak to leave his platform and board one of the ships, until a group of massive carnivorous catfish approach and attempt to eat him. With great effort he pulls himself off of the platform, just as it is destroyed by a catfish. Torvald is able to harpoon one of the catfish which pulls their boat into a collision with another ship. Karsa kills the catfish for food before passing out again. He awakens aboard a small dory which Torvald has found. They row the boat for days and encounter land with a wall running along the coastline. A ship similar to the ones that were stranded approaches them. Aboard the ship, they encounter grey-skinned warriors and a pile of severed heads. The eyes of the heads turn toward Karsa. The warriors demand Karsa and Torvald kneel, but Karsa refuses. Before they can draw their swords, Karsa draws his sword and kills all on board, including a mage. Below deck, Karsa discovers the oarsmen are decapitated bodies. They deduce the bodies and heads are Tiste Andii. Once they leave the ship, the Faces of the Rock arise from the slime. Some voice concerns that Karsa is leaving their control, while others argue that they just need to set their chosen warrior on the proper current. Karsa and Torvald make it to the coast and discover a current pulling them toward a breach in the wall. Near the breach is another boat wrecked on the beach. Aboard the ship is Master Silgar and his companions. Karsa moves to kill Silgar, but is persuaded by the others that the slave master, being a mage, might get them out of the warren they are trapped in. They near the breach in the wall, which is actually a portal Silgar can use to take them out. As they pass the portal, one of Silgar's men, Borrug, has his legs shorn off below the knees by the gate's closing. They travel through darkness and then into water. Torvald spots a light in the distance and they all swim towards it, Borrug on Karsa's back. A large shark attacks Borrug's body, and Karsa draws his sword, slays the fish and recovers Borrug's corpse. Keeper's Tower, A'rath Forest, North Coast of Seven Cities They reach the shore and Karsa and Torvald part from Silgar and Damisk to head toward a tower, the source of the light. At the tower, they meet a man, seemingly Napan, known only as "Keeper", who refuses to reveal his true identity. The man has spent years excavating fossils and recreating the skeletons of long extinct animals. Karsa insults him for "wasting his life," and the man strikes the Teblor, breaking several ribs. The man informs Karsa and Torvald that they are on the Seven Cities' northern coat near the Otataral Sea and the city of Ehrlitan. They decide to head toward Ehrlitan and part ways, as the Keeper senses that there are mysterious powers influencing Karsa's path and it is dangerous to be around him. Keeper gives the two a significant amount of money before they head off toward the port city. de:Der Krieg der Schwestern/Kapitel 3 03